Movie review: Yuvvraaj

There are good movies, there are bad movies and then there are crap bullshit movies. This movie falls in the third category. This movie is such a bullshit that you can't imagine how a film maker can even think of making such movie. I wonder how film makers can even imagine that such a movie can work. I was kicking myself hard inside the theater just for coming to watch this movie. The whole movie can be summed up in a single word 'pathetic'.
As far as the story is concerned, I tell you, even a 5th grader can write something better than this. There is nothing as part of the story in the movie. Had this story been show some fourty years ago, it would have been liked by some people. But today not even a dog would like this three brother love-hate story. Adding further cliche to it there is a typical crooked mama-ji. In fact, the story is not exactly a fourty year old i-love-you-bhaiya type story. Its even worse. Here brothers are the main villains. Crookedness of mama is nothing compared to that of the brothers, who turn into angels, obviously, in the last 5 minutes of the movie, only to send the mama to jail, who in my opinion has done next to none as compared to the own brothers.
There are many scenes in the movie which have been shown just for nothing. You can't make any head or tail of it as to what was the reason behind that part and why it was shown. In fact there are many such characters in the movie who are there doing simply nothing.

Fact of the matter is, writter of the movie himself is so confused that he has no idea what to show, how to start and end the movie and what to do with all the loose ends of the story. As a result, the movie ends in an abrupt manner, without giving any clue as to what heppened. But yes, at that time you definitely feel like 'Thank God, it's over'.

I suggest you guys to save your money and almost three hours time by doing something else rather than watching this crap.

9371272497

Today I got an sms from one of my close friend which said 'someone from the number 9371272497 was looking for you. Please give a call to the number and talk to her.'... Quite a tempting message, right ? I am sure you would agree that it's too inviting for anyone to stop himself from calling it.

I too got curious and called the number. What happened after that was a real crazy stuff for me. In fact one of the most weird experiences I ever had.

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE, DO NOT READ FURTHER. CALL THE NUMBER TO CHECK OUT YOURSELF WHAT COULD IT BE.

BUT IF YOU WANT ME TO PLAY THE SPOILSPORT, SCROLL DOWN AND READ ON.

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When you call the number, a girl pics up the phone. In a sweet voice, She says 'Hello'. In the most usual manner asks who is the person calling. You too would like to know who the girl is, by asking some questions like 'who is this, who are you etc etc'. But all of a sudden the girl bursts into a different mode and starts shouting that why are you teasing me. Why are you calling me? I will report this to police blah blah blah... then she says that she is going to give the phone to her brother and he will handle you. The brother comes into the scene, starts shouting at you, that you are going to be in soup now, he has noted down the number and is going to report to the police. ...
You get scared, start giving all possible explanations that this is the first time you have called up this number, there must be some misunderstanding etc etc.... cling... the other side hangs up...
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You are a scared soul now, clueless about the happenings and thinking that unnecessarily you got yourself in trouble, now that the guy will report to the police, you are definitely going to have some problem in life, though not something severe, as you have not done something wrong. But hang on, did the call ended with 'The voice mailbox is full'... did my call went to someone's voice mailbox.. was that a recorded reply the owner has put his/her mailbox ???... :-)..
so the mystery is solved... This is a number being used to play pranks and fool the people by making them call to it and then threatening that you have been harassing a girl for a long time and so on..Actually the call goes into the mailbox, where the caller is greeted with this recorded conversation instead of the usual 'Hello, I am busy with so and so, please leave a message...'. You react to the message as if you are conversing with real people and get caught in the trap.

The same happened with me too. :-)..

I hope after reading this, you would not try to fool your friends, as it could be a tormenting experience for the person, before he comes to know the truth.

Happy reading!!!! Adios....

Problem with windows Vista

Today I found a bug with windows vista. Inadvertently, I used the key combination ctrl+alt+key down, and my screen resolution increased manyfold. When I tried to change it by going to Desktop-> Personalize -> Display Settings, first I got a warning that there is some problem with the video card and then there was no option to change the desktop resoltion. I was in a fix how to get my correct resolution back. But then there is a 'bramhastra' for almost all software related problems, to restart the program. I too resorted to it, restarted the system and thankfully, found my screen resolution correct.
PS: As things got well after restarting the system, I tried it again, but could not reproduce it.
=> Intermittent problem, a very common and difficult bug for developers to fix. ....
That's my personal experience :-)

Any future for Biharis ?

The bus hijack episode which took place on 27th Oct 2008 in Mumbai shook every youth from Bihar to the core. Here are my thoughts on the issue.
The step taken by Rahul was wrong. Violence is not an answer to violence. Any civilized and cultured society does not approve of violence in any form. Having said that, I must add that if we look at the things in totality, we can see the pain, the frustration, the agony running through the mind of Rahul, which forced him to take such a drastic step. He was no criminal, no terrorist. But still police was forced to kill him. That's because the method adopted by him was an extreme step any one could take. And such a step can be taken only by an extremely frustrated unemployed youth. I ask everyone reading this, how many Biharis, who have a job, who are well settled, would go on to take such a step ? I know many people living and working in Mumbai. True, they are angry by the recent happenings in Mumbai against Biharis but they are no way as angry and frustrated as Rahul would have been when he thought of taking on Raj Thackeray.

My point is, the real killer of Rahul Raj is not the Mumbai Police, it is our own leaders of Bihar, who, even after six decades of independence, cannot make the state self dependent. Who could not make the people empowered enough to stay back at home and earn their living in their home state, if they wish to do so. Today the situation is that people go to other places to look for a job, either they are beaten up and thrown out or they have to take some unlawful and drastic steps to make themselves heard.

Why can't our own leaders hear their voices ? When will they hear the real demand of the youth of Bihar ?

The pathetic situation of the state can be imagined by the fact that firstly the state government has not been able to create jobs for the people of the state and secondly, even if there have been a few state government jobs available to some, people having those jobs are no way better than unemployed people. While I am writing this on the eve of Diwali night, my mind goes back again and again to the conversation I just had with someone, whose husband has not been paid for last five months by the state government and their Diwali is being celebrated by convincing the kids that crackers and sweets are not good for health etc etc.

Can the people of Bihar see light of the day anytime in future ?

Movie Review Hello!

Out of the three books written by Chetan Bhagat, One night @ the call center was the first one read by me. I found it quite a good book for any one who is not fond of reading heavy english literature. The story was pretty good, it had a good pace and above all the language used in the book was for a common man. It was so simple and lucid that you can read almost half of the book in a single sitting without stressing your mind even a bit. In that sense also it was a good book. And then there was lot of masala to keep you gripped to the story. Overall it was a good book and I recommended everyone who asked for a review of the book to give it a try atleast once.
It was some two years back. Almost two years after the book hit the markets and became quite popular among the readers, this friday came the movie 'Hello' based on the novel. As I had liked the book, I thought of giving the movie a try. I was mainly curious to see how does one feel watching a movie when you know the story beforehand. In fact I had gone with lots of expectations. Though my tempo was definitely a bit down by the low ratings given to the movie by almost all the critics. But as I don't believe much on the words of those so called movie critics, I went with an open mind and quite a good amount of expectations.
As the movie was an adaptation of the same novel, no part of the story threw any surprises to me as far as the story was concerned. There were a couple of funny parts in the movie which I found were new in the movie and might have been added by the director. Rest was the same as present in the book. At the end, I felt that the movie was a sincere effort by the director Atul Agnihotry. The novel mainly deals with the turbulent life of its characters. Though the director has tried to show the turbulence in the lives of the characters to some extent, he is not able to depict it as deftly as is there in the book. But I believe the turbulence in the lives of so many characters cannot be made into a movie better than this. I also felt that some of the actors could have acted better to put in some more peppiness and vigor into their characters. Sharman Joshi was especially good. Overall I would rate this movie 3 out of 5.
And my final comment would be that a novel of this type cannot and should not be made into a movie, as movies are made to show as much dramatics as possible and are enjoyable only when they are quick and fast. On the contrary, novels are good only when they are slow and as much detailed as possible. These two mutually opposite characteristics of movies and novels do not make them a good adaptation of each other.

-1*-1 = +1

Ever wondered why the product of two negative numbers produce a positive number ? Take a peep at this link. Though not a great one, but it does show some wonderful ways to prove it. Further it shows that to prove a simple thing, how abstract you may have to think.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/papers/negative.html

A cute love story... Must read till the end..

Found this story forwarded by one of my friend... found it really nice. and worth sharing with the world..

THE TALE OF A DATE
She is my first and the only love till this point. Her name is Nivedita, a software engineer by profession. She is turning twenty-four shortly and she is undoubtedly the most beautiful girl on earth. I made it a point to share my feelings today with her, hoping this letter would do it all. I have not written any letters in my life till now, and this is perhaps the first time I pen down my thoughts and expectations for the person I love the most on earth.
It’s been four years since we met each other and a strong bond has grown between us through these years. I was unaware of her love for a long time. In fact, I hadn’t spoken a word with her till about a year I had seen her for the first time. It was in one long journey in train, I understood her love for me. It happened a year ago.
It was a trip from Kanyakumari to Chennai in Kanyakumari Express. We had passed Vizhupuram and it was 3 am in the morning. I thought I was the only one who was awake in the whole compartment in that early hour. But to my surprise, she was also awake.
I didn’t know then that it was for me she had got up that early. Hardly had she seemed to move her sight away from me. She smiled at me very often and every time I encountered that cute smile, I started eagerly awaiting the next battle with her smile and shining eyes. Her smile had everything in it, the story of unbelievable affection, care and what not.
From that moment, till now, I too have loved her to a great extent. We have never exchanged words about the love we have towards each other, but words are too less to reflect the amount of affection and love we share. I have always thought that the love would remain throughout our life and it happened to be the same till three months back.
Vivek had come into my life three months back. In fact I myself had waited his arrival for quite a long time, but from the moment he arrived, he has been the worst enemy in my life. Nivedita and he had grown close over times, and the fraction of time she spent with me got lowered to a great extent. Even the latest Sensex fall would be less compared to the fall in her affection for me.
I have wondered how it could suddenly happen, after near to four long years of understanding and love amidst us. At times, I have felt like killing that guy Vivek, but I have not had that much strength or braveness to do that. Still, what can he do? He did no mistake to his part, except for being born charming, cute and fair.
Two days before when I saw her, she was feeding food for him and I was hurt to the core on seeing the incident. My anger had boiled down to tears, and I broke. It took almost close to three hours for me stop crying, I felt I had cried more than how much I would have cried when I was born.
I have been trying to understand where it all went wrong, but to my fortune, till now, I haven’t been able spot it out. Once for all, I decided to tell all my feelings to her, no matter how she is going to deal with it. I have heard my dad saying a lot of times ‘Something is better than nothing!’ and I made up my mind to do ‘something’.
I fixed today to be the ‘DATE’ for throwing open in front of her the ‘TALE’ of my pure love for her. I don’t know whether I will get a positive response from her, but I pray God that only the best happens.
Trrrrriinnnnnnggggg…
My school bell has rung. The lunch break is over. My ‘UKG’ classmates would be ready to welcome me with the same cute smile as ever.
I hope my ‘MOTHER’ Nivedita will be alright, understands me and shares some time with me also, apart from that she spends with my three months old rascal ‘BROTHER’ Vivek.
See you after a break!!!

With Love,
Shyam

UKG-B

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You can have a hearty laugh now.. :-)

How to develop Bihar

This is an article written by a non resident Bihari (NRB) on how to develop Bihar. Its a fantastic article. Give some time to read it in full. Thanks.

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In the state of Bihar, most of the farmers are marginal with small land holdings or are sharecroppers / tenants; anyway the culture of Bihar is one which is Agriculture. The un-economic size of land-holdings defeats the very purpose of any gainful results through farming. Therefore, there is a crying need to introduce co-operation among these farmers which by sharing the investments required for modern hi-tech agriculture will benefit them through higher productivity, added revenues and better livelihood. Consequently, this will also help in forward integration of agriculture with value-addition through industry and ensure that the benefits of development percolate to the grassroots level covering the poorest among the poor.

Improved performance of the Agriculture Sector is essential to sustain the growing population needs, provide new jobs to villagers and reduce their migration to urban areas. There is also possibility of growth in economy and employment generation in the villages by enhancing a cooperative action on infrastructure development and also create value addition center (packaging, storage and processing) of agriculture commodities but also surrounding agriculture, an offshoots can be created in form of small scale cottage industries. Role model of the project would be also to create a positive approach towards better future, awareness, Education, health and sanitation, information linkage and opportunity of employment and good governance.

The most important missing link in Agriculture is to sustain and enhance the value addition productivity and improving farm management. Lack of on-farm training to the farmers and linkage with the developed market is greatest concern for the farmer's future growth. A major contribution in the 60% loss of the agriculture produce is due to the lack of proper Pre- and Post Harvest Management and also absence of flow of changing technology to the farm gate. Hence, there is an urgent need to upgrade the technological inputs available to the farmers and localize the solutions to meet their needs. In the local village agricultural markets (i.e. Haats) the prices given to the farm produce is not enough for farmers and therefore further investment cannot be made for advanced agricultural inputs. Hence, to avoid these bottlenecks, it is urgently needed to ensure better prices of farmers produce by accessing wider marketing network by diversifying agriculture. There is a need in Bihar to bridge the gap between the Indian mainstream Society and the people in the remote rural areas of Bihar through a planned program for development. Hence there is a need to develop integrated plan of action for reviving Bihar.

The Center for Integrated Development of Bihar can be created by taking the following activities:

§ Create Model Community Infrastructure for Agriculture, Health, Sanitation, Education and enterprising scales.
§ Strengthen Agrarian Base & Self Employment Opportunities by creating social enterprises at village level.
§ Rejuvenate & Promote agri-tourism
§ Public investment in Agriculture, especially in Irrigation as well as in the market yards to create a value addition center and storage capacity of food products.

We envisage the following key steps to achieve a planned development model for replication in the state of Bihar: -

A. Identify Nodal Development Centers

This Center will function as a nerve center for monitoring, assessment, administration & planning of all the activities undertaken at the various Field Centers. A key role of the Nodal Center is also envisaged in not only providing resources and direction to the Field Centers but also ensuring a cohesive approach to the activities.

The activities formulated will be implemented in the identified Field Centers. The selection & scope of coverage in the designated areas will be finalized after a survey-cum-feasibility of the region & firming of the proposed scale of activities to be undertaken.

It is envisaged that the successful implementation of these activities in the Field Centers will have an immense impact on the rural community of the region, which have been susceptible to exploitation by vested interests. In addition, the development of a trained and experienced manpower for these Centers will be a Formidable Asset for deployment at various other locations of the region.

B. Activate Field Center Units

A surveyor feasibility study can be carried out by team of experts at each of the identified locations, for the formalizing the scale of operations (area of coverage) and the specific activities to be undertaken.

It is envisaged that broadly the following activity units should be set up at the Field Centers keeping in mind the need, though some of these may be modified at the time of survey, due to the prevailing local conditions: -

1. Model Integrated Intensive Farming Unit

Coverage of all farm based activities including agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy and related areas through adoption of modern techniques & this unit will do innovative technology. This unit will be equipped to support all the farming efforts in the community through providing quality inputs on seeds, fertilizers, feeds, irrigation, modern equipment, tools, techniques, veterinary medicines, pre & post harvest package of practices, marketing strategy & linkages. Promotion of Organic farming as a successful way of farming will be a key feature of this unit. Community approach in terms of sharing of techniques & tools in all the activities will be promoted.

2. Basic Rural Infrastructure Unit

Provision of basic amenities to provide dignity of life & improvement in quality of living of rural masses through self-help will be undertaken by this unit. The chosen areas of activity will cover irrigation facilities (minor and micro irrigation), clean drinking water, primary health (emergency services, regular healthcare, family planning, nutrition and infant care), sanitation (community services), basic infrastructure education (primary and adult), connectivity (all weather link roads to townships) and communication (basic rural telephony). The focus of providing these amenities will be on common participation and training of people in upkeep and maintenance of these facilities.

3. Information Dissemination Unit

This unit will be a information base providing inputs to the community on cultural & historical heritage (preservation of social practices, local arts, crafts and melas), employment opportunities (village arts & crafts, tools, implements and agro based rural enterprises), environmental awareness (social and agro forestry, use of solar energy and bio-gas) and technology adoption (customizing latest technologies to local conditions). The unit will function as a problem-solving base for local problems linked to information shortfalls and use multi-media for information dissemination.

4. Resource Training Unit

This unit is proposed to function as a resource base for providing training & expertise to the community in diverse areas of agriculture, health, cultural practices, employment skills, education and maintenance of common utilities. Use of workshops conducted by local and outside experts for development of cottage and small scale industry and self help groups for promotion of entrepreneur skills is also envisaged. This unit will also undertake "Train the Trainer" activities in various areas to promote a skilled resource base within the community.

5. Trained Manpower Unit

This unit will focus on promoting the through a well knit and trained manpower resource to undertake the different governmental program.

C. BENCHMARKING ACHIEVEMENTS & REPLICATION

The achievements under the Model Plan will be benchmarked to evaluate the levels of success under each of the designated activity unit and to undertake modifications, if required. It is anticipated that largely the following benefits would accrue directly from the model plan:
§ Economically independent rural community actively contributing to the regional and national economy. Migration of rural youth to cities & towns for employment would be checked.
§ Improvement in living conditions leading to healthier and confident people who are not prone to exploitation.
§ Revival of self-respect and values through universal basic education leading to awareness of individual rights and responsibilities towards community and country.
§ Re-discovery of eroding cultural heritage and strengthening of social bonds through revival of local arts, crafts and events.
§ Promotion of concept of self-help and community welfare leading to active participation of masses in construction and preservation of public amenities.
§ A reservoir of resource persons trained under the model who could be assigned for replication of these activities all across the State at a fraction of the costs and time.

Urgent need is to upgrade the knowledge of farmers about these losses and probably train them to understand modern methods of cultivation practices and post harvest management. In the local village agricultural markets in India the prices given to the farm produce is not enough for farmers and therefore further investment they can not afford in the advance agricultural inputs. Hence, by watching these, it is urgently needed to give better price of farmers produce by opening wider marketing network.

Consequently, forward integration of industry with agriculture would ensure that the benefits of development percolate to the grassroots level even poor among the poorest. Improved performance of the agriculture sector is essential to sustain the growing population, provide new jobs to villagers and accelerate growth and earn foreign exchange through agro-exports.

POSSIBLE USE OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN BIHAR

We would like to adapt the following innovative technologies for developmental solutions in the state of Bihar: -

· BIO- TECHNOLOGY

· RAIN - FED FARMING

· HI-TECH INTEGRATED DAIRY

· VALUE ADDITION CENTRES FOR HORTICULTURE CROPS

· Hi - TECH GROWING (Normal/Organic farming)

· GROWING OF EXOTIC PRODUCE

· HERBAL AND MEDICINAL PARK

· FOOD PROCESSING CENTER

· RURAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER

· EFFICIENT WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

· AGRI-HORTICULTURE TOURISM

· SMALL COTTAGE INDUSTRY

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comments...

I am sure articles like these would add to the sense of optimism ( as pessimism has plagued our state for a long time) and resultant determination of the reader to initiate and help the process of positive change. I feel indebted to the writer and it makes me happy and hopeful as a native Bihari to read such enlightening views.

I shall like to add some process (of change) related issues to the ideas.The process could be Top-down, Bottoms Up
or a mixture of the two. I say this because I am acutely aware of failures of most of the plans suggested/implemented by the government from
Harit-Kranti to Berojgaar Bus Routes Permits to Industrial estates in Patliputra Colony and in Fatuha to name a few.

In my opinion planners and implementers would have to consider

1. Risks ( personal, economic, social and political ) factors related to the suggested ideas,

2. Explore of economic factors related to the proposals both at macro and micro levels,

3. Have public awareness and opinion formation and develop public
'stake-holding' (including different strata of our society) related to developmental projects

4. Have transparent analyses/reporting of uptake and rejection of the ideas/projects
( mentioning the examples of best and worst practice)
News journals are best placed to help develop the transparency process

5. Have Public Interest groups actively involved in the process of change (initiation, monitoring, and modification).
Its is good to see PILs (Public Interest Litigations coming up in our society).

It would be very helpful to have our economists, social scientists, historians and political scientists
comment and participate in the process; and perhaps form something like an 'Idea Bank/Tank' in order to
inform 'resilient' implementation strategies.


Best wishes and kind regards to the contributors of BIHAR TIMES

Dr. Ajay Kapoor
Manchester UK
Ajay.Kapoor@rbh.nhs.uk

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I am thrilled to read this article and congratulate / salute the author for such well integrated, vision towards Bihar. This article can form a baseline guide to identify and screen projects for developmental solution of the state of Bihar. Innovative technologies
suggested here are based on the suitability and potential of Bihar. Additionally I wish to mention that the northern part
of Bihar has large floodplains which are not being used optimally. Management of flood plains, intensive aquaculture, use of ephemeral back waters for aquaculture and development of Ecoparks (aquatic-terrestrial) on the floodplains may be considered for flood affected areas. North Bihar has great potential for aquaculture which can be modernized and commercialized with limited resources. For instance, considering rainfed farming, paddy cum fish culture may maximize gains.

Ram Kumar,
National Taiwan Ocean University
Taiwan,
ramkumar@mail.ntou.edu.tw

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"The article (styled in a essay) is very well composed. Dr. Jha's approach is pragmatic and equally well-founded.

This reader strongly recommends: 1.)The article of Dr. Jha must be translated as earliest in Hindi and must be published in the dozens of Hindi Newspaper in Bihar. 2.)And it should intesify the debates in rural and non-rural Bihar."

Anant Kumar
Writer & Journalist
Member of German Writers Association
www.anant-kumar.de.vu

MNCs: Saviour or Saboteur

The effect of Multi National Companies on Indian economy is a debatable one. There are many fine points which needs to be deliberated before we can come to any conclusion about its effects on Indian economy and society. On one hand, they have brought tremendous economic development in India but on the other hand they have also worked, though unintentionally, to change the societal picture, which is not very rosy for the Indian society.

With the opening up of Indian economy, many MNCs entered into India. They brought tremendous amount of job opportunities and employment with them. In a very short span of time, standard of living of people working with these companies improved drastically. India started boasting some of the richest people on the earth. The increased income of individuals, in turn, made government also richer by earning much more taxes than before. This growth of economy further attracted more and more MNCs and Nation's face changed within five years. India is now called an IT Superpower instead of 'The Land of Snake-Charmers'.

But, if we scratch beneath the surface, we will find that everything has not bettered with the rise of MNCs in India. The effect on society has been scary. Indian, in a race to ape everything from west, have started forgetting their own culture and values. Money has concentrated in the hands of very few people, which has given rise to great resentment in the lower classes of society. Crime in the urban areas is on the rise. People have started living with insecurity because of the rise of nuclear families. People working in these companies are living much more stressed life in a bid to always perform better under pressure.

Hence, if MNCs have brought happiness to this country, it has its own miseries attached to it. Like a swan we need to pick the pearls and discard the unwanted. If India is able to maintain its cultural values, MNCs can definitely help her grow as the biggest superpower in the world.